BUTLER TWP — In a house on Greenhill Drive a beloved parrot that many people thought had long since died lives into his old age.

He is Charlie, a 55-year-old Yellow-crowned Amazon Parrot, identifiable by his yellow head and green body.

Charlie lives with the Wetzel family, which includes Gerald and Kathleen Wetzel and their son, Steven, but he has a long story before he ever reached their household.

Gerald Wetzel said people are shocked when he tells them the bird is alive and in decent health, considering its age. So he tells them Charlie’s story, which is well rehearsed from practice on many interested listeners.

Charlie’s youth lives in the minds of an older generation of Butler residents. He gained his fame from his regular presence among the staff of the F.W. Woolworth’s Department Store on Main Street, which closed in the 1990s.

The store is where Charlie’s story begins. He hatched in March of 1961 in the store’s pet department, where he would meet his longtime companion, Verna Weisenstein.

Weisenstein cared for the bird through her 35 years at the store before she retired. When the store closed, the manager gave her Charlie to keep.

According to Gerald Wetzel, Weisenstein kept the bird until about a year before her death in 2013. He said when her health began to decline, Weisenstein realized she needed a place for Charlie to go.

He said Weisenstein’s family had promised to take her dog, but the parrot was fickle and unwanted by family and friends.

Gerald Wetzel and his family lived next door to her on Mercer Road at the time, and when Weisenstein began to frequent the hospital for overnight stays, the Wetzels would check on Charlie for her. As her hospital stays grew longer, the Wetzels decided to keep his cage at their house for their convenience.

One day, Weisenstein spoke with Gerald Wetzel while she was out of the hospital. He said it was then that she asked the Wetzels to take care of Charlie after she died.

“She looked with a smile on her face and said, ‘Well since you have him over there already, why don’t you just keep him,’” Gerald Wetzel said.

He said after Charlie became a member of their family, he warmed up to his son, Steven, a 2006 Butler High School graduate.

Gerald Wetzel said this came as a shock because the bird transferred his trust.

“Birds especially are one-person critters,” he said. “They don’t attach to more than one person usually.”

Gerald Wetzel said Weisenstein did visit Charlie once while Steven was in college. The bird had already been moved into a new cage in Steven’s room where it still is today. The bird nipped at her.

Despite the bite, Charlie still made an appearance in Weisenstein’s obituary.

Steven Wetzel now handles most of the care that Charlie requires while others have a hard time getting near the bird, much less handle it — he said Charlie nips at everyone else.

Steven Wetzel said Charlie doesn’t have many health issues, and most of the bird’s problems are age related.

Gerald Wetzel said Charlie is less active in his old age, rarely taking to the air, if ever. The bird mainly moves by running around the house, and because of his territorial nature, he will chase on foot anyone who annoys him with their presence.

“He doesn’t fly anymore,” he said. “He flies like a brick.”

Steven Wetzel said Charlie’s chasing applies to their cats too. The Wetzels own three cats, all of which have learned to keep their distance from the bird, but altercations occasionally do occur.

“The cats have come to respect Charlie, and Charlie, he just ignores the cats,” he said.

Steven Wetzel said he leaves the door to Charlie’s cage open a majority of the time, usually whenever someone is home, but the parrot likes his privacy. He said Charlie is probably comfortable in the cage because he’s lived in one all his life.

He said Charlie, like most parrots, enjoys vocalizing, especially his laughter, which can sound both menacing and delightful, depending on the context.

“He doesn’t do much other than talk or whistle anymore,” Steven Wetzel said.

He said an adult parrot has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old child, but Charlie’s mannerisms sometimes make him seem more than just any parrot.

“Sometimes he starts laughing in a conversation,” Steven Wetzel said.

Gerald Wetzel said he still has an eerie feeling when Charlie laughs at just the right moment in a conversation.

“Sometimes his timing is uncanny,” he said. “I think it may be coincidence or imagination.”

Gerald Wetzel said Charlie likes to use phrases he picked up from the department store and from Weisenstein’s telephone conversations. He said Charlie’s favorite phrases are “Hello” and “Whatcha doin,’” which were picked up from the many phone calls Weisenstein made while near the bird.

“Charlie picked up one side of a telephone conversation,” Gerald Wetzel said.

According to him, when Charlie says short, clear phrases, they usually are ones he learned from girls, but boys are responsible for the colorful language Charlie uses through a hushed tone. Gerald Wetzel said the boys from the junior high school used to whisper the dirty phrases, so they wouldn’t be overheard by the store’s attendants.

“When he’s whispering, he’s whispering profanity,” he said.

John Trotta of the Pointe Barber Shop said he remembers the times that boys taught Charlie foul language.

“I know some kids tried to get him to swear a little bit,” he said. “Not me.”

Trotta said Charlie is synonymous when recalling the department store.

“We used to stop in there as kids,” he said. “He was in the back of the store.”

Trotta said he remembers Weisenstein too, and most people understood the relationship she had with the bird.

“You knew she took care of him,” he said. “She was a nice lady.”

Trotta said he and many others didn’t realize Charlie still was alive, and he remembered hearing a radio show not too long ago, where callers were debating what happened to the old bird.

Eventually, he found the truth through Gerald Wetzel and his son.

“I was pleasantly surprised and happy to hear that he was still around,” he said.

Charlie has made it to 55 years old, which may be hard to believe, but Websites such as Animaldiversity.org list Charlie’s species at a life span of 56 years. According to the site, little is known about how old parrots can get.

“In captivity large parrots can live for up to 100 years,” the site said.

Gerald Wetzel said they will do what they can for Charlie while he lives under their roof.

He said many people still ask about Charlie because he remains a nostalgic piece of Butler County history for as long as he lives, and maybe beyond.

Gerald Wetzel said people should know that the bird still lives.

“Charlie is almost eligible for social security,” he said. “He is alive and well.”